1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus and method, and a non-contact IC card device. More specifically, the present invention relates to an information processing apparatus and method, and a non-contact IC card device which make it possible to achieve a reduction in power consumption.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the related art, there is a type of non-contact IC card that has an integrated circuit (IC chip) and an antenna built therein, and performs short-distance radio communication with another device such as a reader/writer. This non-contact IC card is small-sized and offers good portability. Also, the non-contact IC card is highly reliable since it uses an IC chip, and is thus frequently used as, for example, an ID card, a credit card, a point card, or the like for the purpose of authentication and settlement.
In recent years, there has been conceived an arrangement in which a small-sized display device is provided to the surface of this non-contact IC card, and information held on an IC chip, for example, ID information, account balance information, or historical information is displayed on the display device, thus enhancing the convenience of the card (see, for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2003-208582).
At this time, by providing a battery as a power supply inside the non-contact IC card, the non-contact IC card allows display information stored on a memory within the IC chip to be displayed on the display device at an arbitrary timing in accordance with a user's operation. That is, the non-contact IC card allows the display contents of the display device to be updated at an arbitrary timing.